More Than Just Friends
by HotNunchuckFury
Summary: After an incident whilst practicing with a certain blue-masked turtle, April begins to think about Leonardo in ways she never thought she would. LeoxApril, eventual LeoxAprilxDon love triangle, don't read if you don't like non-canon pairings! 2k12 universe
1. Chapter 1

Butterflies flew inside April O'Neil's stomach as she placed one foot into the turtles' lair. Sucking in a quick breath, she took another step. Before the turtles could see her, she quickly took out her T-Phone, checking her appearance in the reflection. She was never too bothered about how she looked around the four four turtles; they were her family now. Ever since the last time she had seen them, however, things began changing between April and certain turtle. As she thought of him, the butterflies she was having now were nothing compared to the ones she was having before. These were a lot more fierce, and it disturbed the stubborn red head. She placed one hand onto her stomach in an attempt to calm down the butterflies, but her attempt failed.

She paused for a moment, thinking back to when she first started developing these feelings for her friend...

_"You ready, April? Don't expect me to go soft on you because you're a girl." Leonardo grinned slightly, one katana gripped tightly with both hands. He stood on one side of the dojo, whilst April stood on the other._

_"I wasn't expecting anything of the sort!" She smirked playfully, holding a long sword that looked like Leo's katana, with a few differences. Leo rolled his eyes before planting his feet on the ground and raising his sword slightly. April copied him._

_Leonardo made a kind of grunting noise_ _before running towards April head on, his katana held high in the air_. _The red head, holding her sword as high as Leo, set off running toward the blue-masked turtle. They met in the middle of the dojo, their swords making a clanging noise as they touched each other forcefully._

_April grinned at Leonardo and pushed on her sword as hard she could, trying to make him lose grip of his. Of course, this wouldn't happen - he had been training to be a ninja for fifteen years, she had been training to be a kunoichi for a few months. Her progress was showing, though._

_After a few moments, Leonardo began pushing onto her sword with more force, and eventually knocked her sword out of her hands and pinning_ _her onto the floor_.

_April's breath caught in the back of her throat as she realised how close their lips were to each other. Only a few centimetres. If she had lifted her head up, their lips would have touched. A soft blush rose in April's face, and Leonardo could see that she was uncomfortable. He stood up_ _and held out his hand for her to take._

_"Good practice," he murmured, patting her back slightly. She nodded silently before smiling. She picked up her water bottle, took a big gulp, and breathed slowly._

_"I'll... see you later, Leo," she_ _said barely above a whisper. Leo nodded and watched her as she left the room._

April hadn't seen Leonardo since that day - 'the incident', she liked to call it. She could feel her face flushing just thinking about it.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a certain orange-masked turtle jumping up and down in front of her.

"April! Where have you been? I've missed you, dudette!" He asked, half serious, half joking. April just shrugged with a grin.

"Oh, you know... studying and stuff..." She attempted to explain. It wasn't all lies. She did study... for all of half an hour.

"Well, how would you like some of my world famous hot chocolate, huh?" He asked, leading her towards the kitchen.

"Sounds great, Mikey," she smiled and leaned against the counter whilst watching the young turtle take two mugs and making the hot chocolate.

April was finally beginning to feel comfortable, here in the kitchen with her best friend. Until she felt another presence in the room.

She looked to her left to find Leonardo, walking into the kitchen. He didn't even look at her. April felt a lump in the back of her throat. He exchanged a 'good morning' with his sibling, got an energy drink from the fridge and walked out of the kitchen. Just before he left, April caught his eye, and she could have sworn that he smirked at her, ever so slightly.

She rubbed the back of her neck and bit her lip. Things were definitely getting weird - and it was only the beginning.

**_so what did you guys think? leave your opinions in your reviews if you leave one, and I'll give you a shoutout when/if I make a new chapter!:-)_**

**_- HotNunchuckFury_**


	2. Chapter 2

The blue-masked turtle gripped his katana firmly. He practiced many different techniques, but could not concentrate. He couldn't stop thinking about the red-headed girl who he was beginning to see differently...

April...

He shook his head. No. He could not think of her. What if he were in battle? If he thought of her, his mind would wander, and he would most likely come out the loser. Sighing, he set down his katana, and sat next to it in a meditation position. He hadn't done this for a while, and maybe if he were to meditate on it, he would realise that this is just some silly phase. All teenagers go through phases.

Leonardo closed his eyes. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale...

April...

"Gah!" He exclaimed, frustrated by the red-head. He stood up, picking up his katana and placed it in it's holder.

"Something troubles you, Leonardo?" Master Splinter walked slowly into the dojo, his eyes set on his teenage son.

"No, Sensei," Leonardo shook his head and sighed, looking anywhere except his father's eyes. He couldn't bear confrontation.

"It would seem that way," Splinter replied, running a hand down his long chin beard.

"I'm fine," the eldest turtle tried again, meeting Splinter's eyes for less than a second, and looking down to the floor again.

"You can tell me anything, my son. No matter how big or small the problem may be. I will try to help you in any way possible." Splinter tried to get Leonardo to look at him, and he won. Leonardo looked up into his Master's dark brown eyes, and it still stunned him after fifteen years the amount of wisdom that was hidden beneath them. Sighing again, Leonardo closed his eyes, wondering on what he could say to make any of this seem less confusing.

"Well, a couple of days ago, me and April were practicing in here. I managed to overtake her, and I pinned her down to the floor. And ever since I looked into her eyes, I've been seeing her..." Leo searched for a word to say, but found himself thinking about April's eyes... her beautiful, light blue eyes...

"Differently?" Splinter answered for him, his hands joined behind his back.

"Exactly." Leo nodded. He could feel his heart racing, but it was like a huge weight being lifted off his shoulders, knowing that there was one less person he didn't have to keep this a secret from. "I know I'm crazy, Sensei, but -"

"There is nothing crazy about love, Leonardo. True love is such a rare thing these days..." Splinter drifted off slightly. The blue-masked turtle knew how much speaking of love hurt his father. It was one of the reasons why he didn't want to bring it up in the first place. "And besides, love works in mysterious ways..." Splinter looked down at his son one more time, before walking towards his room. He opened the door carefully, and glanced over to his son. "If you are going to act on your feelings, Leonardo, treat April kindly and respectfully. After all, you never know what you truly have until it is gone." And wit that, Splinter disappeard into his room, closing the door behind him.

Leonardo's eye ridges furrowed, and he rubbed the back of his neck. What was he supposed to do? What if he did tell April how he felt, but she rejected him? And he made a complete fool out of himself?

Suddenly, he realised something. Something that made his heart quiver at the thought of it.

Donatello was in love with April. He had been ever since he met her. Leonardo sighed. There was no way he could go for April now. There wasn't a chance in Hell that he would ever hurt his brother like that.

"See you later, guys!" Leonardo could her April's soft voice from outside of the dojo. He ran towards the voice, and saw April standing near the lair's exit. They met each other's eyes, and just gazed at each other for a moment. Leo could see a slight blush creeping into April's cheeks, which he couldn't help but smile at.

"Want me to walk you home?" He asked, his smile growing wider. His smile quivered when he remembered about Donnie, however. He looked down, biting his lip softly.

"Sure!" April answered almost immediately. Leo made his way over to the red-head, and they made their way out of the exit and into the sewers.

* * *

April was nearly home now. They had been walking for half an hour, exchanging comments about the weather and other types of small talk. Leo hadn't taken in how awkward this would be.

"So... how's your school work coming along?" he asked quietly, looking down as they walked over the rooftops slowly.

"Yeah, good..." April replied. She looked up and across the road; that's where her Auntie's house (or store... she lived above it) was. Leo followed her gaze, and sighed. It didn't seem like they'd had that much time together at all. Probably because they'd spent the half an hour in silence.

The turtle swept April off of her feet and jumped down to the ground. She let out a little squeal by the surprise of being lifted. He set her on the ground and hid in the shadows whilst she walked normally on the pavement.

In a couple of moments, they were outside April's aunt's house. They stood in the darkness for a couple of seconds.

"Night, Leo," April sighed, lifting her hand in a slight wave.

"Good night, April..." he replied softly. As she entered her house, he hung his head. He should have made a move. But he couldn't. He couldn't stop thinking about Donatello.

The blue-masked turtle jumped up to the rooftops and made his way home silently and swiftly, regretting not hinting to April that he had feelings for her.

_**Hi guys:-) I believe I owe some shoutouts to:**_

_**geminidragon76**_

_**I Love Kittens too**_

_**Nehamee**_

_**thank you all for reviewing, it means a lot!**_

_**new chapter will probably be up later this weekends, until then, adios!**_


	3. Chapter 3

April walked into her auntie's quiet house, and shut the door carefully. It was 9:30 pm, and her aunt had to go to work early the next morning. Expecting her aunt to be in bed, she strolled into the living room and sat on a warm chair. She got the shock of her life when she realised her aunt was sitting up on the couch beside the chair and was glaring at her.

"Who's Leo?" her aunt asked, crossing her arms across her chest.

"Wh-what?" April stuttered after recovering from the shock.

"Don't play dumb, April. I heard you talking to someone outside the house. Who is he?" her aunt tried again, her eyes focused on her teenage niece's face.

"A friend..." the red-head replied quietly, looking down at her joined hands.

"A friend, huh?" her aunt raised an eyebrow, stood up, and went into the kitchen. Confused, April stood up.

"Aunt Jenny?" She asked, staying stood up until her aunt came back into the room.

"Talk!" her aunt shouted, pointing a loaded water gun at her.

"Oh, c'mon, Jen..." April rolled her eyes.

"Tell me who he is or I'll make you tell me!" Jen replied, trying to keep herself from smiling as that would take away the seriousness of the conversation. 'Pfft, seriousness. She's pointing a water gun at me,' April thought.

"I don't have to tell you if I don't want to." April frowned, crossing her arms stubbornly.

"Oh, really?" Jen asked, raising both her eyebrows and taking a step closer to April.

"Really." April answered.

Jenny pointed the water gun at April's face and began squirting her with freezing cold water. April screamed and tried to cover her face with her hands.

"S-stop it, auntie Jen!" April shouted.

"Not until you tell me who this 'Leo' guy is!" Jen shouted back, continuing to squirt her niece.

"Okay, okay! I'll talk!" April gave in. Jenny stopped squirting and put the water gun on the coffee table. Water dripped from April's fiery red hair, and Jen went into the kitchen and threw her a kitchen towel.

"Thanks..." April rolled her eyes and dabbed at her soaked hair. She sat down and sighed. "I met Leo a few months ago... after Dad's..." April felt a lump rise in her throat at the mention of her father, but shook her head, "after his disappearance. He's been helping me through this."

"Mhmm. So you two are being safe?" Jen asked, sitting back on the couch, her eyes burning into April's.

"What?!" April yelled, jumping up.

"I said are you two being -"

"It's not like that, Jen!" She argued, her face burning. How could her aunt think of her that way?

"Then why are you blushing?" Jen questioned, crossing her arms.

"B-because... Look, Leo's not like that, okay? Our relationship isn't like that. We're friends, that's all." April looked down. Friends. 'Yeah, probably what we always will be," she thought, and tears prickled in her eyes.

"Do you like him?" Jen frowned. April stayed quiet. "You do, don't you?"

"I..." April sniffed and wiped her eyes. "I don't know. It's... It's weird. I don't know how I feel." She sighed and looked at her feet. "Besides, it doesn't matter anyway. He'd never feel the same way about me."

"Are you joking?" Her aunt asked. "Sit down, April."

April sat back down in her chair, bringing her knees up to touch her chin.

"Any boy would be lucky to have you, sweetie. Don't you ever think of yourself as 'some other girl'. You are beautiful and special in your own way." Jen smiled, getting up and sitting on the arm of April's chair and hugging her tightly.

"But you have to say that. You're my aunt," April's voice broke slightly and she rested her head on the side of her aunt's body.

"Uh, okay, I suppose you're right. But that doesn't mean it's not true." Jen said comfortingly, giving April another tight squeeze. "Do you want me to make some hot chocolate?" She asked softly.

April stood up, passed her aunt the towel and headed towards the stairs. "I'm okay, thanks. Mikey already made me some earlier."

"Who's Mikey?" Jen stood up, her hands on her hips and her eyebrows raised. April's eyes widened as she realised that she had let another name slip out of her mouth. She was going to have to be careful on what she said from now on.

"Good night, aunt Jen," April said quickly and darted upstairs.

"Night, you rascal," Jen grinned, throwing the towel at April's direction.

The red-headed teen opened the door to her bedroom. She walked in and looked around. Something felt... very weird about this room. She shoved it in the 'I'll think about that later' section of her mind and took off her shoes. She got changed into a baggy yellow top with grey sweatpants and placed herself between her mattress and cover.

April tried to get to sleep for at least an hour, but she couldn't do it. Her mind wouldn't let her. It was like it was saying, 'no! don't go to sleep! think about Leo!'. She groaned and squashed her pillow onto her head. She couldn't escape her feelings any longer. It wasn't healthy.

So she made a plan.

When she woke up the next morning, she would get changed and head out to the lair. She would confront Leonardo. She would tell him her feelings. She would ask him his thoughts on the situation... he would laugh at her...

April's brow furrowed as tears trickled down her cheeks. What was she supposed to do? Just humiliate herself in front of Leonardo? In front of his entire family? Of course not. She knew better than that.

She would get changed early the next morning. She would go down to the lair, and act like everything is fine. After all, she may find that these feelings are just some silly phase.

Then again, maybe not...

April groaned and sat up in bed, burying her face in her hands.

'Maybe some music could help me sleep,' she wondered and grabbed her MP3 Player from her bedside table. Plugging in her earphones, she placed one earphone in her right ear and lay down on her pillow. She scanned through all of her different albums on her MP3 Player. Eventually, she settled for Taylor Swift. That was what she liked to listen to after a bad day.

**_'Cause I don't know how it gets better than this,  
You take my hand and drag me head first,  
Fearless..._**

Her heart sped up slightly as she realised just how much this song reminded her of Leonardo.

Her Fearless Leader.

**_Hello there Mighty Mutants! :-) I don't know why I use Leonardo's cheesy quotes as names for you guys but whatever  
I believe I owe some shout outs to my awesome reviewers!  
Nehamee  
clary2008  
BubblyShell22  
KateTheNinjaTurtle  
epicthunder101  
Smile or else_**

**_Did you guys like the way I portrayed April's aunt? I wanted her to be that fun aunt everybody loves and not some boring old lady :-) leave your opinions in your reviews, if you leave one!  
I'll upload chapter four soonish, but until then, BAIBAI MY PPLS_**


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